Luke's next adventure: the year before tomorrow
by yeti100
Summary: caught in the calm before the storm, Luke's meeting with River fast approaches but the universe won't leave him in peace just cause he is worried, features characters from the SJA and DW, chapter 6 now up
1. the magician

so many things to write here i don't even know where to begin. first thanks to DannyP and TKLee these guys have given me some interesting ideas, some of which may appear in this story, i will make sure to point out and give credit when i do this, oh yeah as usual i don't own SJA or DW. i wasn't sure about doing more stories after my last, but i really enjoy writing them so i decided to continue, that and i was threatened by DannyP so here you go, please enjoy, and as always reviews are appreciated

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><p>Luke was strolling down bannerman road present in hand, he was in the middle of his final year alongside Marcus, but for the moment it was a long weekend and both him and Marcus had been called back for a birthday party<p>

"i've never seen a magician here on earth, i thought humans didn't believe in magic?"

this discussion had been going since they left Sarah-Jane's house

"it isn't magic, just slight of hand, the hand moving faster than the eye can comprehend"

Luke was stubborn in his denial of magic

"alright well i've seen magic on other worlds and it isn't an optical illusion"

Luke frowned at Marcus

"whatever you saw it wasn't magic, there's a scientific explanation for it somewhere"

Marcus's voice was teasing and light

"i don't know Luke, if it looks like magic and feels like magic"

Luke rose to the bait

"yeah and next you're going to tell me if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, and we both remember how that worked out"

he fixed Marcus with a playful glare

"how was i supposed to know it was the shapeshifter, at least it wasn't a carnivorous species this time"

although the pseudo duck had eaten through just about everything else that wasn't alive, including a decent chunk of Luke's car

"my car is still missing most of it's bumper, and that was my favourite pair of jeans"

Marcus held up his hands in mock surrender, and then slipped closer to Luke so he could steal a kiss

"you know that won't get you out of trouble all the time, especially if you upset the next killer duck we encounter"

they both burst into laughter, turning the corner they were greeted by an explosively excited Jake

"hey guys i can't believe you came, oh this is gonna be an awesome birthday, come on"

Jake grabbed their hands and they found themselves being pulled at high speeds to the building that had been booked for the party

"oh hey boys i'm glad you could come, Jake seemed really excited to have both of you at his party"

despite her calm exterior Marcus could feel tension bubbling beneath the surface, clearly trying to corral the dozen or so kids at the party was taking its toll on Jake's mother

"yeah we were glad to come, oh speaking of which we have a present for Jake"

Marcus pulled out the small wrapped package from his pocket, Jake bounded up to them

"oh is that for me, cool what is it?" he unwrapped it quickly, but looked almost dissapointed at what he held in his hand "it's a ball"

Luke smiled and took the ball into his hand

"oh this isn't just any ball, it's a ball that's almost impossible to catch"

Jake looked confused so Luke threw the ball to him, before Jake could catch it, the ball weaved around his hand and bounced off around the room

"cool how did it do that"

Marcus was smiling at the look on Jake's face

"ah that is a secret, why don't you and your friends see if you can catch it while your mum finishes getting things ready"

Jake took off after the ball chasing it around the room with his friends

"oh good that will keep them busy for a while, can you two grab some of the food from the car"

they both nodded and walked outside finding Lisa at the boot of her mums car

"hey guys, did mum drag you into setup as well"

they nodded and she laughed, Luke reached into his pocket and found the present they had made for lisa

"oh yeah Lisa we got this for you"

she took the package and opened it, she held a small flute in her hands, blowing into it experimentally the instrument produced a delicate sound and a gentle light

"oh wow this is beautiful, is it alien?"

she put the flute away and gave the boys a couple of dishes to carry

"yeah it is, so don't spread it around, but we figure after all you did to stop the trickster you deserve something special"

it took them almost half an hour to get things ready for the party, but eventually the food was prepared and the magician was ready on stage

"okay kids come on sit down"

despite her request the kids kept running around

"but mum we haven't figured out how to catch the ball yet"

Marcus's present was still bouncing around the room

"oh right sorry"

Marcus put his fingers to his lips and whistled, the ball changed direction in mid-air and flew into Marcus's outstretched hand, bowing slightly to the impressed applause Marcus gave the ball to Jake and they all sat down, turning to watch the Magician on stage

"ah ladies and gentlemen i'm so glad you could attend on this magical day"

on the word magical he flicked his wrist and had a card in his hand, throwing it into the air it exploded into confetti, each trick eaned the magician applause, eventually he brought his assistant up on stage, she helped him through a few more tricks, eventually he reached the finale

"and now ladies and gentlemen, i have a very special trick to end with, as you can see behind me i have two boxes big enough for my lovely assistant to fit inside" he gestured to two boxes behind him, his assistant climbed inside one of them "and now the blades of doom" he pulled out several swords that earned him a gasp from the kids in the audience "now silence please"

everyone watched as he slowly lined up the sword with one of the holes in the box, the whole audience took a deep breath and he plunged the sword into the box, at the same time a searing pain ripped through Marcus's mind, Luke noticed and they both slipped outside

"Marcus what's wrong?"

Luke watched as his friend clutched at the sides of his head

"something's wrong with that trick, he's killing her"

eyes wide in surprise Luke rushed back into the room, just in time to see the magicians assistant step out of the other box, completely unharmed

"and there you have it ladies and gentlemen, i hope you enjoyed the show"

Marcus and Luke went through the motions for the rest of the party, eventually the party was finished and they helped Jake's mum clean up, finally they were free to return to bannerman road

"oh hey boys, how was the party"

Luke looked from his mum to Marcus

"well Jake liked his present, but during one of the magic tricks Macus sensed something"

she turned to Marcus curious, he took a breath before he answered

"the woman in the box, i felt her in pain, like she really had been stabbed, but before we could do anything she stepped out of the other box, completely unharmed, it doesn't make sense"

Sarah-Jane considered them both carefully

"hmm, perhaps what you sensed wasn't from this woman" Marcus looked at her confused "there were a lot of children there, and the imagination of a child is a powerful thing"

Marcus considered what she said

"you may have a point, i remember Krell telling me about an old special forces trick that worked in a similar way, if he focused on a painful memory then he could project that pain into the mind of another solaran"

Luke came up behind Marcus and put his arm over his friends shoulders

"now that we have that sorted can we make something to eat, i was too busy worrying about you to eat anything at the party"

they both laughed and Sarah-Jane had a look in the fridge and pulled out a few things, the boys exchanged worried looks and quickly took over

"do you boys not like my cooking?"

she was looking at both of them but neither could hold her gaze

"no we love your cooking mum, it's just"

he turned to Marcus for support

"sorry Sarah-Jane but to be frank, i would like my eyebrows to grow back before you cook for us again"

she laughed in spite of herself and fixed them both with a playful glare

"that only happened with the scrambled eggs"

they both nodded sympathetically but Luke couldn't stop smiling

"yeah mum just the scrambled eggs, and the pasta, oh and not forgetting the salad of course"

she slapped him playfully on the arm

"fine you two can cook, make it something healthy"

she went to sit down while they cooked, after dinner they all sat down for a bit, clyde and Rani still hadn't come back yet so the three of them just sat there, chatting about anything and everything

"ok well i'll leave you boys alone, i've got a few things to finish off in the attic, night boys"

they watched her walk up the stairs before Luke turned and looked at Marcus

"come on then, time for an investigation"

Marcus looked confused

"what do you mean?"

Luke had an amused smile on his face

"i know you won't stop worrying about this until we know for certain what happened in the show"

grinning at luke Marcus bounced up from where he was sat

"hey mum, me and Marcus are going out for a little while, back later...yes i have my phone with me"

grabbing his keys and sonic pen Luke followed Marcus out of the door into the cool evening air, the first place they wanted to investigate was the building that had been hosting Jake's party

"my scans aren't turning up anything unusual, although, that's weird" Luke looked over his shoulder at the readings "i figured the stage was hollow, but its solid"

Luke went over ways the trick could have been performed, most of the time the stage was hollow

"that is weird, i wonder how he did the trick"

Marcus took another look around the stage for some kind of panel, instead he found something else

"umm Luke, i found something, and it isn't stopping me from worrying"

on the floor was an almost unnoticable spot of blood, Luke didn't think much of it until the light caught it and the blood shimmered green

"okay that is definitely not human, do you know what species it belongs to"

Marcus sanned it, the reading came back with a question mark

"it definitely isn't human, but my scanner can't identify it, i think we're gonna have to take it back to Mr Smith"

Luke let his head drop, he just hoped his mum wasn't mad at him for investigating without telling her, exiting the building Luke sealed the door behind them with his pen,  
>outside in the cool night air they turned towards home, it was good to be there, even for a little while, his final year at university was going to be over soon, and then he would meet River<p>

"are you alright Luke?"

Marcus slipped his fingers into Luke's

"i'm fine, just worried about what happens next, this is the year of peace and quiet, after i meet River everything changes, and on top of that i have to figure out what i want to do with myself after uni, assuming i survive whatever River asks me to do"

Marcus was smiling beside Luke

"don't worry Luke, you like every human on this world spend too much time worrying about getting somewhere, and getting there quickly, maybe you should slow down, it will be much easier to see where you're going"

Luke gave his boyfriend's hand a gentle squeeze

"maybe you're right, maybe after we're finished we should go traveling for a bit, if aphelion is repaired we could go check on Mara, and catch up with your friend Kiara,  
>oh and i'm sure Mr Smith has some awesome ideas for sightseeing"<p>

Marcus burst out laughing

"sounds like a plan, but in the meantime lets solve a mystery"

nodding with renewed determination they walked up the drive towards 13 bannerman road, Luke found Sarah-Jane upstairs in the attic

"oh hello boys, i wasn't expecting you back so soon"

Sarah-Jane was curled up on the sofa, mug of tea in hand

"we were investigating the magician, and we found some alien blood, we need Mr Smith to identify it"

Sarah-Jane's eyebrows came together in a frown

"i should have known you weren't just going out, alright lets see what you found, Mr Smith we need you"

Mr Smith's fanfare blared as he appeared out of the wall, Marcus plugged his scanner into the USB slot

"Mr Smith we found some blood, can you tell us the species"

a picture of an alien appeared on the screen

"i can do more than that Marcus, that blood belonged to kubla kahn his DNA is part of his criminal profile, he is of the intangible race, they are a race of shapeshifters,  
>and due to their extensive shapeshifting abilities very few people have ever seen their their true form, last confirmed sighting of this individual was in judoon custody, he was scheduled to be executed, but escaped during transport"<p>

Marcus turned to face Luke in confusion

"how the hell did his blood end up on the floor, do you think he could of shifted into that assistant, maybe he's assumed her identity to hide on earth"

luke nodded, it was a possibility

"well i think we should go talk to the assistant and the magician, maybe the two of them have some answers"

he turned to leave the attic but Sarah-Jane cut them off

"i don't think so boys, it's late, you can investigate in the morning"

both Luke and Marcus opened their mouths to protest

"come on mum i'm an adult now, and technically we're still in the middle of an investigation"

arms crossed she stood firmly in his way

"whoever this magician might be you will only raise suspicion if you go to talk to him in the middle of the night, and technically Luke you aren't even ten years old and it is past your bedtime"

Sarah-Jane smiled quite pleased with herself, Luke's arguement caught in his throat and Marcus was in fits of laughter behind him

"alright mum you have a point, we'll start fresh in the morning, night"

he gave her a kiss on the cheek and followed Marcus downstairs, once in his room he got ready for bed, across from him he could see Marcus in the spare bed his mum had made for them, he had decided against mentioning that to his mum.

"are you still worrying over there"

Marcus's eyes were closed but Luke knew he was still awake

"a little bit, this whole day still reeks of something not quite right, that and i'm kind of lonely over here by myself"

Luke rolled his eyes and climbed out of his bed and into the spare bed with Marcus, warm and content he fell asleep. the next day they were both up bright and early, Luke had used Mr Smith to track down the Magician, after wolfing down some toast for breakfast they took off out the door, the magician lived on the road in a truck full of props, Mr Smith had located the truck stopped in an overnight carpark

"so where is this guys truck"

they both looked around, Marcus's eyes were caught by a brightly colored van in the far corner

"i think i found it, come on"

knocking on the door they waited a few moments for a response, no reply came so Luke pulled out his sonic pen and quietly opened the door, inside the truck was filled from top to bottom with props for the magicians show

"do you reckon this guys a timelord, this truck feels a lot bigger on the inside"

working their way slowly to the end of the truck they came across a sealed door at the far end, Marcus moved out the way and Luke tried to open the door

"it isn't working, it must have a deadlock seal, this guy definitely isn't a normal magician"

they turned to leave the truck but came face to face with the magician, gun in hand

"indeed gentleman i am far from being a normal magician, and juding from your sonic technology you two aren't from earth either" he moved the weapon from Marcus to Luke as if he was trying to make a decision "the two of you would make excellent assistants, now that i'm finished with the old one, the question is which one to pick"

Marcus watched as the gun continued moving

"you try and put me in one of those ridiculous costumes and i will take you up to space and leave you there" he waited for just the right moment "now!"

he pressed his watch and the light blinded the magician, the gun fired but it missed them both, Luke ran forwards and took the weapon and pointed it at the magician

"ok now get up, and release the deadlock seal"

the magician stood up lips curled into a sneer

"oh please you aren't going to shoot me with that"

Marcus stepped up behind Luke, his eyes fixed on the magician

"look you and i both know you aren't brave enough to call anyone's bluff, now do it"

the sneer was replaced by a look of contempt, moving between them to the sealed door the magician entered a passcode and the door slid open, inside was a machine, full of twisting wires and mismatched parts, all wired into the two magic boxes, Marcus stepped into the small space and opened one of the boxes a foul decaying smell entered his nose, pulling open the box all the way they came face to face with a dead alien, it's face bulged out like a dog, and it had dangerously sharp teeth, but it's eyes drew the attention, glassy and white, it was dead

"Luke this is kubla kahn, he's dead, what the hell i though he was the assistant or something"

before Luke could react the magician turned around and knocked him backwards, Luke fell against a lever and found himself trapped as a box closed in from both sides

"Luke!"

Marcus turned on the magician but stopped in place, the Magician held a sword in his hand

"nice try, but it's hard to trick a trickster"

anger burned in Marcus's eyes

"let him go"

the magicians sneer returned he was enjoying being in control

"oh before that i want you to look at something, it's a fascinating little picture"

Luke couldn't see what Was happening from inside the box, all he could hear were the words

"what is that? is it an alien?"

Marcus had never seen an alien like it before

"i'm not sure, but every person that looks at it never even remembers seeing it, and you know what's really interesting is that you are going to sleep"

before Marcus could respond the magician hid the picture in his hand, and Marcus paused in place before collapsing to the floor

Luke had no idea what was going on, what had the magician done to Marcus

"and now for you boy"

luke heard the ringing of steel, the magician was going to kill him

"wait, before you do that, let me figure out what's going on, last request" he heard the magician pause and took his chance "okay so you're here kubla kahn is dead, that's easy to figure out, his criminal record had a bounty attached, dead or alive, you're going to give his body to the judoon and claim the bounty" Luke ran through everything in his head, he needed a few more seconds, he had to keep the guy listening "ok and that equipment, at least part of it looked like a teleport, so that's how you made the trick work, but how did you explain all that to the assistant, oh"

the machinery was more than just a teleport, he remembered technology like that from his first moments of life, it was a modified psycho-graft

"ingenious isn't it, the bodies move but the minds stay put, i get a bounty from the body, and kubla kahn gets a free pass, the perfect hiding place from the judoon, that way everyone is happy, now no more questions"

the magician lined up his blade carefully, and plunged it into the box, but he felt no resistance, and he didn't hear any sounds from Luke, removing the blade he pressed the lever and the box split apart, Luke was gone

"what! where are you?"

he spun in a circle and got knocked in the face by Luke, the magician fell to the floor clutching a bloody nose

"trapping me in a box that is designed to be escaped from, you really aren't that smart, but you are a murderer, you put that poor womans brain inside an alien and killed her, just to make money! we're handing you over to the judoon"

keeping an eye on the magician Luke shook Marcus until he woke up

"oh my head, what happened? hey i though you were in a box"

helping him up Luke turned back to the magician, who was looking surprisingly confident

"you aren't turning me over to the judoon"

from the look on Marcus's face he thought otherwise

"well as much fun as it would be to make you disappear, i think you'll have more fun with the judoon"

he moved forwards to pick the magician up, but the magician got up first

"you aren't taking me to the judoon, see their laws are very strict and the way all those kids at the parties practically ordered me to stab the aliens, by the laws of the judoon, that makes them accessories to murder, an offence punishable by death"

Luke turned to Marcus for confirmation, his friends nodded solemnly, if they turned this guy in, the judoon would execute him, and everyone at the party including Jake and Lisa

"what do we do, we can't let him go, he'll transplant more criminals"

Marcus shrugged, but then a picture on the floor caught his eye

"hey this is the picture he showed me" the alien in the picture was tall and had ghostly white skin "he showed me that, and told me to sleep and then i did"

Luke looked from the picture to the magician

"i don't know what this is, but you used this to hypnotise Marcus, and that gives me an idea"

Luke turned the picture towards the alien, it was strange but he couldn't actually remember what was in the picture

"what are you doing, no don't show me tha..."

Luke made sure the magician kept his eyes focused on the picture

"listen to me, you aren't ever going to mention how this happened to the judoon, the kids the parties none of it, you transplanted the bodies in secret"

covering the picture the Magician's eyes slid out of focus for a moment, before he could react Macus sent out a signal to the judoon, including all of the evidence they had collected, a few seconds later the magician disappeared in a flash of light, Marcus turned to look at Luke a grin on his face

"best trick of the night, come on we'd best go explain this to Sarah-Jane"

he lead the way out of the truck, the sun was already high in the sky, climbing into Luke's car they drove off, back to bannerman road

"well boys it seems you have had quite the day"

it had taken most of the day to explain everything to Sarah-Jane, Mr Smith had kept a careful eye on any judoon transmissions, but it looked like their hypnosis trick had worked

"i wish i could go to sleep and stop worrying, but kubla kahn is still at large, and he isn't the only one, this is the second time he's put on that show, that means there's another criminal somwhere on earth"

Sarah-Jane could see her sons concern, she gave him a comforting hug

"well considering how far these aliens went to hide i doubt they'll do anything to blow their cover, that will give you time to find them"

he gave his mums hand a grateful squeeze, Marcus smiled at the two of them

"well the thing that has me really curious is how you escaped that box, you gotta tell me, one moment you were in the box then when i woke up you were out of the box"

Luke grinned mischievously

"oh now Marcus, a good magician never reveals his tricks"

Luke's joke set loose a barrage of noise from Marcus he picked Luke up from where he was sat and the two wrestled around for a while until Marcus had him pinned and

"you did not just make that joke, oh that was bad, in fact that was clyde bad"

Sarah-Jane laughed at the both of them, she was glad to have Luke home even for a few days, he was back where she could protect him

"alright you two knock it off before you break something, in fact lets go out, clyde and Rani should be back any minute we can meet them in the town"

they all grabbed coats, Marcus chased Luke out of the attic, Sarah-Jane was shaking her head at both of them. elsewhere in space, a dark ship drifted into the earth's orbit

"we have tracked down the ship to eath last surivor must have been onboard, do you have an exact location"

the aliens on the ship slowly closed in on a location

"it is an old facility, labeled in classified earth records as Torchwood"

"very good, assemble the rest of the heretics we will find the survivor and end this"

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><p>little bit of a cliffhanger for you, can't resist a good cliffhanger. hope you enjoyed, these chapters are gonna come out slowly, probably a lot slower than previous stories, so please be patient with me, on the plus side if you've just started reading my stories with this one then there are three others that came before this one. even better there are the stories of TKLee which are most definitely worth a read<p>

hint for next chapter: i was just saying hello?


	2. angels and demons

this story is coming to you live from 11 at night, as usual i do not own SJA or DW. i have been hit by a sudden burst of writing-y-ness, and this story has evolved over the past 5 hours, it includes one of my favorite creature of all time so i really hope i did them justice. as always reviews and improvements are appreciated. and if i did my job right prepare to be scared

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><p>"Luke, Luke wake up your alarm is going off"<p>

Marcus's eyes were still glued shut, after listening to a few more snores from Luke he gave up and reached for the clock himself, he hit the snooze button half a dozen times but the alarm continued

"That doesn't sound much like my alarm, where's it coming from?"

forcing his eyes open Marcus looked around the room, after a couple of minutes searching he traced the noise to his jeans on the floor

"Huh, it's my scanner, it's picking up some kind of distress signal, give me a second to decode it"

Luke sat up in his bed to look over Marcus's shoulders, before he could ask what was going on a T appeared on the scanner

"Uh-oh i recognise that, it's Torchwood, i wonder what trouble Jack has gotten into now"

The message finally finished decoding, a video of Captain Jack appeared on the screen

"Attention anyone receiving this message, this is an emergency pre-recorded broadcast, the Torchwood vaults have been breached, the angels are free or soon will be, you must stop them, end message"

Marcus looked over the files attached to the video message

"whoever Jack is he doesn't have a lot of information on these angels, all these files say is that they're a high category threat and if they escape the vaults the whole word is in danger, no change there then this world is always in danger"

Luke moved across the room to turn on his computer, after a few minutes waiting Mr Smith appeared on screen

"hello Luke how can i be of help"

"hey Mr Smith, we recieved a distress signal from Torchwood it seems serious, we could do with some help from mum"

"i am sorry Master Luke but Sarah-Jane is currently preoccupied with rescuing Rani from the primus program"

Luke turned to Marcus concerned

"is Rani OK?"

"Sarah-Jane and Clyde are currently freeing her physical form, i am tasked with breaking her mind free from the virtual prison primus has created, i am confident our plan will succeed"

Luke relaxed slightly in his chair

"OK well me and Marcus will deal with the angels, good luck Mr Smith"

Luke switched off his computer before turning to Marcus

"guess we have to do this one ourselves, come on" Luke pulled on his clothes and grabbed everything from around his room that they might need, his pen, his phone but he stopped when he each for his keys "oh my car, it's still being worked on in the garage, how are we going to get to Cardiff?"

Marcus stopped in his tracks

"stupid duck, umm let me think" Marcus paced back and forward "oh i got it follow me"

they both rushed down the stairs of the building and burst out into the outside

"where are we going?"

Luke was panting trying to keep up

"Mitch, he owes me a favour, hopefully i can talk him into lending us his car"

the sprint through the streets left them at the doorstep to Mitch's flat, they pressed the bell and eventually Mitch answered the door

"what are you guys doing? it's early"

he let them into the flat and they all stood in the living room

"sorry to wake you up but i need to call in a favour, we need to borrow your car"

the look on Mitch's face told them both he thought he was still dreaming

"not a chance" he looked at them carefully and took in the panicked expressions "why?"

Marcus looked to Luke

"my car is still being worked on and we need to get to Cardiff, it's a family emergency"

Luke had decided agaisnt mentioning the possible end of the world that usually followed his emergencies

"alright fine, but i've seen what happens to your car Luke, if mine doesn't come back in one piece then you two are in big trouble"

he threw them the keys and went back upstairs, probably to go to sleep, Luke and Marcus raced out the door and found Mitch's car

"damn i have gotta learn how to drive"

taking a brief moment to appreciate Mitch's car they both jumped in and Luke couldn't resist putting the roof down, pulling out onto the main road Marcus hooked up the sat-nav entering the adress for Torchwood

"Ok so what is Torchwood? And who is jack?"

Luke thought back to the time he met Jack over the subwave

"Torchwood is an organisation that used to do the same job as mum more or less, Jack is...well he's Jack, I only met him once over a subwave network but mum told me he used to travel with the Doctor"

Marcus nodded before flicking through the info on Torchwood

"You know when i first learnt there was a country called Wales here on earth i figured it was actually built on a whale, surfing around the world, kind of a letdown when i learnt it was just a regular place"

it was going to be a long journey but Luke loved listening to how Marcus interpreted the world when he first got here

"how on earth would they fit a whole city on a whale?"

he stuck his tongue out at Luke before laughing

"give me a break i grew up on tales of star whales, huge creatures that drift through space, and they are big enough to build a city on"

feeling triumphant for the moment Marcus checked his messages, he found one from Bev

'hey Marcus we've almost got everything set up for tonight and Luke doesn't suspect a thing, Bev xxx"

he felt a sinking disappointment in the pitt of his stomach, how could he forget

'hi Bev we've got caught up in a bit of an emergency, not gonna be back in time for what i had planned, thanks for all your help, Marcus'

he let loose a sigh, turning to watch Luke as he focused on the road

"are you alright? your hair's turning blue"

Luke was watching him out of the corner of his eye

"oh yeah i'm fine" Luke shot Marcus a skeptical look "ok not fine but it's nothing to worry about"

Marcus was quite glad that Luke took him at his word, looking down the road they still had about ten minutes left in their journey, he just hoped that the angels hadn't escaped. Luke parked Mitch's car and they both got out and stared in dismay at the wreckage of Torchwood

"this could be a problem"

Luke couldn't help but agree

"ok Jack said in his message that the angels were breaking free of the vault, vault, vaults are underground, they are hidden deep, we need to look underground"

nodding Marcus flipped open his scanner and started a deep scan, after arguing with the device in his hands for a few seconds Marcus took off towards a side street

"you were right Luke, the vaults are deep, most tunnels that might take us close are collapsed but there is one remaining tunnel entrance close by, one that hasn't collapsed" he turned in circles for a few seconds looking for something his eyes fixed on a grate in the road and his smile disappeared "and there it is, unfortunately this stupid thing doesn't know the difference between tunnels, and sewers"

he spoke the last word like it left a bad taste in his mouth

"come on you big baby, at least we have a way down to the vaults"

Marcus kicked his feet and Luke was reminded an awful lot of Clyde

"but it stinks down there, and stop smiling, you know my nose is a lot more sensitive than yours"

Luke just rolled his eyes and used his pen to open the way

"blimey you can tell you used to be a prince, so delicate"

Luke knew his ruse worked the second the words left his lips, Marcus walked over and lowered himself down, Luke followed a few seconds later

"you know something Luke sometimes i really hate you"

the smile on Marcus's lips told Luke he wasn't serious but neither could deny that it really did smell

"follow me"

Marcus activated the light on his watch and lead the way, a couple of metres along and they started going down, Luke observed the change as recent building work was replaced by old worn bricks, after a few mintues of climbing they came to a dead end

"how interesting"

Luke noticed Marcus staring at his scanner as if he had never seen it before

"what?"

he turned the scanner to Luke a smile on the corner of his lips

"well according to my scanner this wall doesn't exist, it simply isn't there"

he knocked against the bricks to illustrate

"it must be one of Torchwoods defenses, how do we get through it?"

they both jumped out of their skins when someone walked in behind them

"well boys it helps if you have the key"

Luke was amazed to see none other than Captain Jack Harkness

"Jack" he stepped forwards to shake hands with the captain "what are you doing here?"

he tapped the device on his wrist

"i got the same distress signal you did, now Luke i remember you, but who's this"

Jack was looking at Marcus with a curious expression on his face

"i'm Marcus"

they both shook hands as well

"Solaran by the looks of you, i ended up on your planet a little while back, glad to see the war ended, place is looking a lot better than it did"

Luke couldn't help but smile at the postive buzz of emotions he could sense from his friend

"thanks, you mentioned something about a key"

Jack nodded and stepped forwards, pressing the device on his wrist Jack took a deep breath and stepped through the wall, Marcus and Luke took a breath as well and stepped through after him, when they took a breath on the other side their throats were attacked by a putrid smell that turned their stomachs, they both threw up, only Jack was unaffected

"are you two alright?"

they nodded trying to cover their mouths as best they could, all around them was carnage, a mess of flesh amongst the cold stone of the vaults

"what the hell happened in here?"

Jack shrugged as the looked around, he turned to an outdated computer panel

"stay put, i'll see if i can pull up any of the video files"

Luke nodded but when he turned to Marcus he found his friend already gone, swearing under his breath Luke followed the footprints he could see in the grime, he found Marcus on his knees next to an alien

"please there isn't much time, it's our fault, we pushed it, chased the survivor across the galaxy, made it desperate, and in their desperation they created a monster, one of their own race, they destroyed its defences and now the angel is at it's most vulnerable, and it's most deadly"

the alien fumbled with a device on his waist, Luke took it when offered

"this contains all our information, everything we know about them, take it and let it guide you, four angels remain in this vault, but beware the survivor for it protects them and is an angel no longer"

the alien took a few more shuddering breaths and died, Luke reached over and gently closed it's eyes, they paused there for a few moments unaware of the danger

"get down!"

Jacks voice echoed through the vaults over the noise of his revolver, the dark shape above them shrieked in pain, before anyone could react something that was barely a shadow ripped passed Jack and he fell to the floor dead

"no!"

Luke rushed to Jack but when he searched for the pulse he couldn't find anything, Marcus reached out with his mind but couldn't sense anything either, he put a comforting hand on Luke's shoulder

"i'm sorry"

god how Marcus hated those words, but right then they were the only two he could think of

"i don't believe this he survived Daleks and who knows what else, he doesn't deserve to die here!"

the last word came out as a scream when Jack burst back into life

"oh that son of a, broke my kneck, hasn't happened to me in years" Jack took in the stunned faces of Luke and Marcus "ah yeah long story"

Luke was staring at Jack in disbelief

"you died"

Luke poked Jack in the chest a couple of times just to make sure he wasn't imagining things

"again long story, and i'd love to explain but right now we have to stay focused on the angels, now what did that alien tell you"

he looked up at Marcus who took it as his cue to start talking

"he said they were chasing a survivor, another angel maybe, it found it's way here, he said the survivors defenses were shattered and it was turned into a monster, he also said beware the survivor for it protects them"

Jack took in what was said

"them, who is them"

before anyone could answer Jack caught sight of something in the shadows, four silent statues frozen in place, Luke and Marcus followed his stare and caught sight of the angels

"why aren't they moving?"

Marcus was quite grateful they weren't but he couldn't help but ask, they were all so preoccupied with the angels that nobody noticed the slowly flickering lights

"Marcus your watch, the light is going out"

Jack looked from the light to the angels

"that's not all, they're getting closer" all of the lights dimmed at the same time for a few seconds and the angels had covered half the distance between them "run!"

They listened to Jack and ran back through the vaults as fast as they could, the silent angels chasing them relentlessly, Jack hit the device on his wrist and dived through the wall, Luke followed him seconds later

"Come on we need to get back onto the streets, sunlight should stop them from moving"

Luke nodded before wheeling around, even in the dim sewer light he could feel something missing

"Marcus" he made to walk back to the vaults door but the wall was solid again "Jack open the door"

Jack looked at Luke with a sympathetic expression on his face

"Luke we have to get out of here, we don't know enough to fight them, if we go back into that vault then we're at their mercy just like your friend, now follow me"

Luke stood resolutely on the spot

"Jack open it now"

the words were calm but Jack could see anger beneath the surface

"No, now the sooner you stop acting like a child, the sooner we can find a way to fight those things and rescue your friend, now follow me"

Jack turned on his heel and walked away Luke reluctantly followed, once back on the surface Luke looked over the device they had been given, after a few attempts it activated and displayed a list of information

"they are called the weeping angels, their primary defense is a quantum lock, when we look at them they cease to exist"

Jack turned and kept his eyes focused on the grate, this was the only way out of the vaults, under the sun the angels could be held here

"i'm sorry Luke, i know you're angry, but against creatures like them we needed to play it smart"

Luke looked up from the information in front of him for a few seconds

"logically i know you are right, but emotionally...i sometimes wonder if the Bane made me weaker or stronger when they gave me emotions"

Jack turned around to look at Luke

"your emotions make you stronger, don't ever think otherwise, and if you won't take my words for it look at the Daleks"

Luke considered Jack's words carefully, before turning back to the datapad

"they can drain energy, feed on it, that must be why the lights went out, but this last file is corrupted, the only thing i can make out is this"

he showed the words to Jack

"whatever holds the image of an angel is an angel" Jack considered the words carefully "makes no sense to me, but this is interesting the angels cover their eyes because if they ever look into the eyes of another angel they will be stuck that way, that must be why the Doctor told me to make sure they were transported as i found them, all four were looking at each other, just frozen like that"

Luke took back the pad and looked over it

"OK so if they can drain the energy out of your torch and Marcus's watch, then we need a source of light that they can't drain, like a fire"

Jack nodded in agreement

"OK i know where we could get some some torches, wait here i'll be back"

Luke watched Jack as he ran down the street before returning his gaze to the drain, he had to hope that Marcus was OK, if he wasn't the emotions that Jack said made him so strong would rip him apart. down in the vault Marcus was coming around, his head was throbbing, and the dull light of a computer screen in front of him hurt his eyes, after blinking a few times to clear his vision he noticed words on the screen

'you will help us'

becoming more aware of what was around him Marcus realised he was surrounded, the angels hadn't killed him and that was good, but Luke and Jack were nowhere in sight

"what do you mean? what help?"

he closed his eyes and felt a whirl of movement around him, opening his eyes again he saw the words had changed

'at the heart of this city is a rift, contained inside is a feast, but we cannot reach it, you will help us access it'

a rift, Marcus knew there was some kind of anomaly in Cardiff, his scanner had picked it up

"what do you mean, how can i do that"

he closed his eyes again and felt the same whirl of movement

'this vault is filled with technology, use it'

they wanted him to create a device that could tap into the rift energy

"i'm not sure i could do that, even if i could, who knows what kind of damage that could cause to the city, hell the planet"

closing his eyes one more time he waited for their response

'this is all we need you for, if you will not help then you have no need to be alive'

Marcus exhaled, he didn't know where Luke was, but he had faith that his friend was going to help, he had to play along for now

"OK, help me round up all the technology in this vault, let me see what i have to work with"

they were gone in a flicker of the lights

"Luke please hurry"

on the streets Jack had returned two medieval torches in hand

"OK with these we should have enough light to keep the angels in sight long enough to rescue Marcus, after that we can figure out a permanent solution"

Luke nodded and climbed quickly back into the sewers, taking the torches as Jack passed them down, lighting both with his pen they made their way back down to the vaults

"unlock the vault, i'll go first"

nodding his agreement Jack unlocked the vault and Luke stepped through the wall, Jack followed moments later

"OK so far so good"

they both stepped carefully, trying not to make a sound, unfortunately Jack didn't notice the puddle of slime and slipped in it losing his footing he landed hard on his side, on the other side of the vault Marcus heard the sound, twisting the device in his hands he let it drop to the floor

"sorry boys but that sound like my rescue"

not even daring to look back Marcus ran as the adhesive bomb he had hastily assembled exploded, he ran as fast he could down the vault corridors, before long he could see a flickering light, with Luke and Jack at the center

"Luke!"

before either boy could move there was a blinding flash of light behind them, they all closed their eyes on instinct, and when they opened them again the torches had been knocked to the floor extinguished

"you two stay close" obeying jack they all stood back to back, trying to make out shapes in the dark "not that i'm complaining but why aren't they attacking?"

in the shadows Marcus could see a flicker of movement

"they want the rift, but they can't get to it, they wanted me to build something that they could use to access it"

Marcus knew Luke was afraid, he wanted to comfort him, but stuck in the dark he was afraid too, he reached out for Luke's hand, but before he could find it they were knocked apart, a lone dangling light on the ceiling flickered briefly into life revealing words carved into the wall

'help us'

Marcus pushed himself to his feet, he could hear Jack and Luke somewhere close by

"we can't do that, there's no telling what that could do to the planet"

then something knocked against the light and it swung slowly backwards revealing more words on the wall

'then he...'

Macus watched in slow motion at the light swung back in the opposite direction

'...will die first'

Marcus turned to where he knew Luke was, no doubt in his mind who they were targeting, he felt his fear replaced by something else, something fierce and angry like fire he reached for it and the feeling burned through him, lighting the corridor with a raging light, he saw the angels stopped in place, surrounding Luke, they would not take him

"Marcus, how are you doing that?"

Luke stared in shock as his friend's face twisted in concentration, behind him Jack was almost lost for words

"Luke, Marcus and i have them in our sights, you need to find a way to stop them before that light fades"

even as Jack spoke the strain on Marcus's face doubled

"alright, the quantum lock will fade in the dark, the torches are gone, think, ugh come on, there has to be something" his mind stopped at the information he was seeking "whatever holds the image of an angel is an angel"

weaving past the angels he grabbed at broken monitor glass on the ground, retrieving all the pieces he needed, he pointed his pen at each tinting one side of the glass until he could see a perfect reflection, twisting pieces of wire he found on the ground he tied the mirrors in place, each one covering the angels eyes

"Luke hurry up"

the light around them was fading, 1, 2, 3 he turned to the fourth angel, just as he attached the mirror the light faded, but the angels remained in place, he rushed over to Marcus who had collapsed

"Marcus are you alright?"

his only response was gently squeezing Luke's hand, Jack smiled before turning to the angels

"OK i'm impressed, what did you do to them?"

Marcus slowly opened his eyes and let Luke sit him up

"whatever holds the image of an angel is an angel, including their reflections"

Jack nodded in understanding

"and if one angel ever looks into the eyes of another they will be stuck like that, unless something can break their line of sight, brilliant, you really are something else kid"

smiling at the compliment Luke pulled Marcus to his feet, and supported his friend out of the vault

"speaking of brilliant, how did you do that? that light, i've never seen you do anything like that"

despite the exhaustion he felt, Marcus couldn't help but let a proud smile cross his face

"hatred isn't the only emotion that can physically change me Luke, that light has a name in the ancient Solaran language that roughly translates as 'the protectors light' i didn't honetly think i had it in me"

as if to prove his point he stumbled and nearly collapsed again, Jack supported his other side

"you two must be close, a desire that strong wouldn't have come from just anywhere" he looked at them both sideways "like i said Luke, your emotions make you stronger and love is about as strong as it gets"

Marcus stumbled again, they all stopped talking for the rest of the climb out, it took them almost three times as long but finally they were out in the cool evening air Luke jumped when his phone started ringing, it must have only just regained its signal

"Luke, where have you been, Mr Smith said you went to Cardiff and got involved with Torchwood, you could have been in real danger, and why weren't you answering your phone"

holding the phone at arms length he passed it to Jack

"Sarah-Jane it's Jack, i know you're mad but they are fine, and without there help we could have had a serious problem on our hands"

Jack seemed confident in his charm but Sarah-Jane was not easily calmed

"i should have known you were involved Jack, you get them back to oxford right now or angels will be the least of your worries"

Luke took back his phone to say goodbye to his mum, once he hung up he looked at Jack and burst out laughing

"it's not funny, i've fought an entire fleet of Daleks and they're still no comparison to your mother, reminds me of the time i tried to take you in for tests"

Luke's laughter subsided

"you tried to take me?"

Jack raised his hands in apology

"we were worried you could be a threat, but when i approached your mother not only did she say no, but she went on to say that if i came near you again she would have that robot dog of yours vaporise any trace that i was ever male"

Luke's laughter returned full force, all the evil in the universe and it was his mother that scared Jack the most

"alright enough fun at my expense, where's your car, i'll drive you back"

they put Marcus in the back seats and Jack pointed the car back towards London

"Jack what are we going to do about the survivor?"

he knew it was still out there

"don't worry i haven't forgotten, but it's best if i go after it alone, it will have a harder time killing me than most"

Luke nodded his agreement and was quite grateful that he didn't have to go against the angels again, after a few minutes of silence Luke heard Marcus phone in the backseat grabbing it to prevent it from waking his friend Luke flipped it open to see who was texting

'ok well i'm sure you'll get another chance to surprise him Bev xxx'

curiosity getting the better of him Luke looked at the messages from before and couldn't help but smile

"good news?"

Luke turned to Jack

"Marcus had been planning a special night, two years since we first met today, he must have wanted it to be a surprise"

he felt the smile creep further across his face

"sorry, guess this business with the angels got in the way"

Luke knew his friend had been disappointed that today hadn't gone quite as planned, but just knowing that Marcus had planned this was enough, climbing over the seats into the back he curled up next to Marcus and fell asleep, even in the dark he knew he was protected and all thoughts of angels and demons were washed away in his dreams.

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><p>can't resist a sappy ending, in all honesty i loved the idea of bringing jack back, but found him to be a really difficult character to write for, hope i did him justice, points to anyone who can pick up all the little references i littered around this story, there are loads of them, anyway time for bed<p>

hint for next chapter: but i got wise, you're the devil in disguise?


	3. my way

i'm gonna come right out and say that i don't like this chapter, there were so many ideas buzzing around and none of them quite fit the way i wanted. i've got it to a state that i am willing to show it to you guys. either way i hope you guys enjoy this story. oh by the way if you haven't watched the latest doctor who episdoe you really should because the ending made me go "!" slight exageration but still. please enjoy

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><p>"come one she went this way!"<p>

Luke turned to follow Marcus they had caught a glimpse of Kubla Kahn slipping into the side streets, dashing around the corner they followed her into a warehouse,  
>once inside they lost sight of her<p>

"dammit she disappeared again, any signs of her?"

Marcus quickly flicked open his scanner

"no no life signs" he held the device up in the air and moved it around "scrap that one really big life sign masking the others, oh snap it's the parlantan, run!"

Marcus grabbed his friends hand and they both ran, all around them drain covers started to hiss as pressure built up underneath them, breaking out onto the main street Marcus felt Luke hands slip from his grip, before he could turn around a massive blast of gas erupted from the ground and he was knocked out cold. Marcus didn't know how long he had been out, checking his watch he guessed about an hour, picking himself up off the ground he gingerly felt the back of his head, there was no blood, that was a good sign, he didn't hit it that hard, looking around he quickly spotted Luke a couple of feet away

"Luke are you alright? wake up"

Luke let loose an involuntary groan forcing his eyes open he looked at Marcus and burst into childish giggles

"you're blurry, pretty blurry alien"

sighing in relief Marcus checked him for injuries

"you're fine Luke, although you did inhale some of the Parlantan gas, I'm sorry i could have sworn it's hiding place was at least ten miles west of here, i must have read my scanner wrong"

this was the second time he had seen Luke under the effect of the gas,

"why did the Parlantan fart on us" the word teased another giggling fit out of Luke "clyde says that is a funny word, fart"

Marcus shook his head and gently lifted his friend off the ground, once upright Luke swayed on unsteady feet

"it didn't fart Luke, it's a self defense mechanism, luckily it's a fairly harmless one, although i suspect you're gonna be out of it until tomorrow"

Luke was paying little attention, he was trying his best to look at his toes without toppling, Marcus caught him just before he hit the ground

"Luke what are you doing?"

he put Luke's arms over his shoulder and supported him down the street

"i was looking for my toes cause i can't feel my toes, are you sure the alien didn't eat them?"

Marcus remembered Mr Smiths explanation of the gas

"no worries the gas will wear off and then you'll be able to feel your toes again after a good nights sleep"

Luke stopped for a moment

"you promise?"

there was so much fear and concern in Luke's voice, he sounded like a frightened kid to Marcus

"i promise, now come on time for bed"

happy that his toes were safe Luke allowed himself to be lead home, once they finally made it back Luke collapsed quite happily into his bed

"there we are Luke, safe and sound, now go to sleep"

Luke shook his head, a stubborn look covered his face

"not safe yet, Kubla Kahn escaped again"

this was the third time they had caught a trail, but Kubla Kahn had mastered simply disappearing, even in a human body

"don't worry, as long as we're chasing her she won't have time to do anything bad, now go to sleep"

Luke shook his head again grinning mischievously

"nuh-uh not comfy, can't sleep"

grinning in spite of himself Marcus climbed into the bed next to Luke and planted a light kiss on his friends lips, settling down beside Luke he let him get comfy

"better?"

he never got a response, Luke was already asleep beside him. their sleep didn't last long, they were woken by K-9 who was barking at the door

"k-9 what are you doing?"

the dog turned to look at Marcus

"Master Marcus, their is someone at the door"

trying his best not to disturb Luke Marcus got up to answer the door

"why were you barking though?"

he was gonna have to tell Luke to give his dog a check up

"Master Luke suggested it would allow me to blend in better"

rolling his eyes Marcus pulled open the door

"K-9 there's nobody here"

before he could moan at the dog for waking him up he noticed something move across his field of vision, barely a shimmer, lashing out at it he hit something solid, the intruder tripped on K-9 and fell to the floor

"what's going on?"

Luke woke up just in time to see the intruder become visible

"ouch, was that really necessary, i just wanted to get out of sight before dropping my cloak, most of these humans have no clue about aliens do they"

the voice belonged to a slender woman, despite her technology she looked human

"fair enough, although it might have been an idea to tell us that before trying to sneak in, now who are you?"

Luke was properly awake now and staring at the intruder

"my name is faren, i was told to seek you two out, i am an agent of the shadow proclamation, and i have come to warn you that your planet is in terrible danger"

Luke groaned and dropped back against his bed

"why does the world always have to be in danger so early, what kind of danger?"

Faren got to her feet casting a disaproving eye over Luke's room before answering

"i am following an organisation known as the black suns, i don't know their goal yet, but their previous actions have often lead to planet wide destruction, my superiors told me earth was not our concern, but..."

Marcus caught Luke's eye, they shared a quick wordless communication

"well agent Faren i guess we should get started then"

Luke gave up trying to keep K-9 hidden as they moved through the buildings, most people knew his dog by name anyway even if they didn't know the exact details, outside they found Luke's car right where it usually was, Marcus turned to Luke confused

"Luke, did you go and get your car this morning before i woke up, i thought we left it behind after the parlantan gassed you"

Luke shrugged confused

"did we even bring my car with us when we were chasing Kubla Kahn?"

between them Faren looked to be growing ever more impatient

"gentleman right now that is not important, i have already gotten a spike in energy readings, we need to locate the source quickly"

taking her advice they all climbed into Luke's car, Faren showed Luke the location of her readings and they set off as fast as they could

"yeah OK Faren i know this doesn't seem important but the last time Luke started forgetting stuff he almost died, then i almost died bringing him back so this is important, besides we're good at this job so we can worry about the earth and each other"

Luke swerved quickly and pulled onto the next street, in the back K-9 stirred

"Master Luke i am detecting artron energy readings, they share similarity with the readings i took at the Manfreddi buildings"

Marcus turned to K-9 alarmed

"oh you have got to be kidding me, they're trying to make another chronon particle"

Faren threw her hands up in frustration

"that is nice gentlemen, care to explain"

Marcus was tempted to ignore her, but as Luke was concentrating on driving he decided to explain

"a chronon particle is a powerful energy source, but considering what you told me about the black suns, i think they're less interested in it as a power source, and more interested in the fact that it has the potential to destroy this world"

Faren's eyebrows disappeared into her hair

"then i suggest we hurry"

the readings lead them to a facility that Luke remembered well, Androvax, nanotechnology and Judoon, this place is nothing but trouble. sneaking up to the side entrance Luke used his pen and let them in

"why are they using a human facility?"

Luke decided to ignore the hidden comment about inferior human technology

"well i suspect a lot of this stuff is outdated compared to what these guys are used to, but if they can commandeer the nanotechnology like androvax did they could assemble everything they need for the particle in an instant"

turning a corner Luke could hear people talking ahead of them, signaling the others they crept silently towards their target

"sir the particle is complete, the containment field will begin to fail in 20 earth minutes, 10 minutes after that the particle will destabilise and our goal will be accomplished"

before they could stop her Faren jumped from her hiding place gun levelled at the members of the black suns

"freeze all of you!"

waving at Faren the leader of the group pressed a device on his wrist and they all dissappeared, running passed Faren Luke quickly got to work on the containment field

"not good, they've locked the controls, and this security system, i don't recognise it"

Marcus looked at the computer and his eyes widened in surprise

"this is the same setup as the Solaran vault, but that's impossible, this system was designed solely for use in the vaults, the designs were destroyed after installation"

a timer had appeared in the top of the screen

"OK mystery aside can you crack it"

Marcus remembered more or less how to enter the vaults, his dad had taken him there once

"yeah give me a minute"

he quickly got to work peeling back layers of security, behind him Faren paced nervously, Marcus could feel her anxiety pulsing in the back of his mind, Luke by comparison was calm and the other people in the room...he couldn't sense anything, paused at the final layer of security he new something was wrong

"what happened why did you sto..."

before Faren could finish Marcus burst from where he sat and caught her by the throat

"who are you? and where are we"

Luke looked between Marcus and Faren

"i know who she is, Kubla Kahn"

Faren's eyes shone with fear as the flickered between Marcus and Luke

"please finish stabilising the containment field"

it was less command than Marcus was expecting, more like she was begging

"why bother, i have a sneaking suspicion that none of this is real"

Luke nodded his agreement

"too much has happened out of place today, if i had to guess i would say this is a simulation, you used our memories to put this scenario together, and the solaran vault is the key"

he turned to Marcus who still had Faren or Kubla Kahn in a tight grip, releasing it slightly he let her talk

"the contents of that vault are my only way of bartering my passage of this world and passed the Judoon, please if i don't deliver what the black suns want they'll give me to the judoon, i'll be executed"

Marcus let her go a low chuckle escaped his lips

"you really are a stupid selfish alien aren't you"

the dark tone in his voice surprised everyone in the room

"the riches of Solaris for my life, i may not be a model citizen but i don't deserve to die, how is that selfish"

she was almost begging now

"what do you think when you think of the vault, underground, big metal door, lasers, tom cruise dropping form the ceiling, well if you're thinking of the vaults under the palace then you'd be right, but that isn't the vault they want to break into" genuine confusion crossed Kubla Kahn's face "they want access to the moon, the hollow moon above Solaris, inside of which is a gravity field generator keeping the moons orbit from destabilising, and destroying my world"

the reality of the situation hit Kubla Kahn

"that's why you went to all the trouble of this simulation, Marcus would never give up the vault key willingly, you had to trick him into giving it up"

she turned between both of them

"i didn't know"

her voice was somber and filled with remorse

"no you didn't care, you're smart enough to realise that the black suns weren't after money, you put your life above an entire planet, i'm not sure you deserve the life that you stole"

Marcus was radiating anger, this woman had put his entire world in danger, he took a step towards her but was stopped when Luke stood in his way

"remember, you didn't think the game master deserved to live either"

luke's words shook him from his anger, how did he get so close to losing it

"sorry Luke, Kahn you're getting us out of here now"

nodding her agreement the world dissolved around them, they were in the same warehouse they had chased her to, all three of them were in metal harnesses, Marcus slipped the headset off and fell to the floor, his throat was dry and his muscles weren't responding properly, he guessed it was an after effect of being in the harnesses so long

"what now gentlemen?"

to her credit Kubla Kahn hadn't run, she was just standing there. Luke looked to Marcus for guidance but he held up his hands, clearly lost for ideas, eventually he was struck by an idea

"that body you're in, the woman who used to occupy it, her name was Kathy, we checked in on her family to see if they had heard from you, but they told us you were missing, and they were heartbroken, i'm not sure what you deserve, but they deserve to be happy, they deserve to get their daughter back"

she silently nodded her understanding

"are you sure about this Luke?"

he honestly wasn't, Luke tried to think of what his mum would do and what the doctor would do, reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small cylinder of metal that was barely bigger than a paracetamol

"this is a tracking device, once you swallow this it's practically impossible to get rid of, one slip up from you and we give the judoon the signal frequency"

she took it and swallowed it without a word, turning on her heels she walked away from them, taking Marcus's hands they both turned and walked away, finding Luke's car just outside they climbed in and Luke slowly steered them home, stopped outside their dorm building Luke waited for a moment

"i'm not sure that was the right thing to do, i keep trying to think of how mum would have handled it, or the doctor"

beside him Marcus let a small smile cross his lips

"you're right, your mum wouldn't have done that, neither would the doctor, but this crazy little world isn't all black and white, there's more than one right way of doing things, and this was yours"

Luke felt a surge of emotion, he still wasn't sure, but he believed his mum would be proud of him

"are you alright, that's the first time in a long time i've seen you that angry"

Marcus shook his head looking ashamed of himself

"that was stupid of me, so many live lost saving our world, she wanted to undo it all"

Luke put his hand over Marcus's

"what am i gonna do with you?"

his teasing tone made Marcus laugh, before either could say anything a voice came crackling over the radio

"well i know if i was you Luke i'd lock him in a room and have my way with him"

"jack? what are you doing on my radio"

he'd skipped over how, why bother where jack was concerned

"sorry for intterupting boys but i need your help, can you meet me at these coordinates"

Marcus flipped his scanner open to receive them

"okay Jack we'll be there as soon as we can, what do you need help with anyway?"

they both heard a pause over the radio

"the survivor"

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><p>little cliffhanger, for anyone wanting to know more about the survivor, you're wish shall be granted, for anyone wanting to know more about my ability to read minds. no wish for you<p>

tardis edit-please ignore my ramblings it's late again and my brain is only half working

hint for next chapter: shattered


	4. the survivor

yay next chapter, as usual i don't own SJA or DW or torchwood, this ended up as quite a short chapter but i found it a lot easier to write than the previous one, i decided after introducing the survivor in my second chapter that it deserved a little more time in the spotlight. and before i forget thankyou to TKLee, DannyP and kaetie, it's good to know you guys are enjoying this story, please enjoy

* * *

><p>after a brief break for food they both arrived at the location jack had sent them, it was an overbearing museum, the outside was littered with stone statues, gargoyles, soldiers and angels<p>

"please tell me those angels are just statues?"

Marcus was fairly certain that they were just statues, but he still felt a shiver of fear run down his spine

"come on lets go find Jack"

walking through the main entrance hall they were met by a flustered reception lady

"who are you? what do you want?"

her voice was high-pitched and she pointed her stapler at them with shaking hands, before they could respond Jack appeared behind her from deeper in the museum

"it's OK miss these two are here to assist me with the invesitgation just relax"

he motioned to Marcus and Luke and they all ventured deeper into the library

"is that woman OK? she seemed really shaken up"

Jack nodded and guided them towards a particular exhibit

"she saw the survivor however briefly, that spooked her, and then when she followed it she saw this" he motioned to metal security shutters that had previously blocked the entrance to the exhibit, they were in pieces "solid titanium and that thing ripped them apart like paper"

he lead them passed the shutters and into the main room, Marcus couldn't help but notice streaks of blood on the walls

"Jack who's blood is that?"

the captain turned briefly

"mine, anyway the reason i brought you here is because this is the second time this creature has attacked the museum, i need you to help me figure out why, and set a trap for when it comes back"

they all looked around the museum

"umm maybe there's a way into the vault from the museum, this place is pretty old"

they both considered the idea but Jack stopped them short

"no i made sure every entrance into the vaults is sealed up under at least 5 tonnes of concrete"

Luke examined all the exhibits carefully

"you don't think it's something to do with the statues on the outside do you?"

he really hoped not, there was an army of them outside

"i doubt it, although i wouldn't rule it out as far as these creatures are concerned"

Jack sounded fairly confident but they all spared a quick glance out the windows anyway

"Jack do you have any ideas for how we're going to stop the survivor if it does come back, it has all the powers of the angels but it won't turn to stone if we look at it"

Marcus hadn't even got a proper look at it when it attacked, it was so fast

"i've been able to injure it but that hasn't slowed it down much, if we could just slow it down enough for me to get a clear shot"

Luke looked thoughtful at that

"i have an idea, give me a minute to get something from my car"

Luke left Jack and Marcus on their own

"is Luke alright, he looks exhausted, you too actually"

Marcus new Luke was probably as tired as he felt

"we got caught in a virtual simulation, we had only just escaped when you contacted us"

it was sleep with none of the rest

"are you sure that's all, there's something else on his mind, i can see it"

Marcus considered Jack for a moment

"he met a version of himself from the future and he was warned about a meeting with a woman named River Song, she has a job for him to do and it has him worried"

Jack knew from experience that knowledge of the future was a heavy burden. he was tempted to offer some advice but not sure he was the best man to give it, before he could make a decision a flicker of movement caught his eye. outside by his car Luke found what he was looking for

"this might be enough to give Jack a clear shot"

locking his car he heard a gunshot from inside the museum

"Marcus get back!"

Jack moved between Marcus and the survivor it had knocked him flat and he was barely concious on the floor. before he could get a clear shot the survivor vanished from his sight. his gun was swiped out of his hand. Jack finally got a good look at the survivor, pale skin and tattered wings, it's eyes were empty and sunken and filled with malice. it lunged at Jack but moved slower than nomral giving him time to dive out of the way

"leave them alone" Luke was standing in the entrance, with the mitre headset, he raised his hand and focused on the survivor "Jack hurry up"

Jack dived for his gun and took two shots at the survivor, it screeched in pain and ripped free of Luke's control. before Marcus or Jack could react the survivor made Luke disappear, then vanished from sight

"Luke?" still trying to get his breath back Marcus ran to where Luke disappeared "Jack where is he?"

Jack knew the real question was when is he, he had seen the creatures injuries heal over, it must have sent him back in time to gain strength

"Luke was sent back in time, so the survivor could gain strength"

the real problem was they had no idea when

"OK we have to go find him, get him back, you've got that thing on your wrist can't we use it"

Jack had gotten the teleport working but he hadn't dared to try traveling through the vortex yet

"Marcus we can't right now, this is the third time that thing attacked the museum, we know there's a reason so we can't leave yet"

Marcus looked furious and was ready to argue, but Jack turned his back on him and started examining the room

"fine" he spat the word out before continuing scanning the room, after about five minutes his scan was complete "Jack there's nothing here, what does that thing want"

Jack could see a blaze of anger in the kids eyes, before he could calm him down he caught a glimpse of something

"i wouldn't say nothing" he was focused on the diamond that was part of the exhibit "cause when i look at you through this diamond, i see hundreds of versions of you"

refracted hundreds of times in the diamond was Marcus

"so what"

there was only one thing jack could hear in his head

"Marcus whatever holds the image of an angel is an angel, and this diamond could hold the image of hundreds of angels, if the survivor looked into this there would be an army of these creatures"

no one on earth would be safe

"fine, we'll stop it"

Jack made sure his revolver was realoaded

"how? i could kill it with this, but without Luke to hold it still..."

he'd never get a clear shot and Jack knew it

"i can give you a clear shot, if i can get in it's head"

Jack knew a little about the solaran abilities

"being connected like that will put you at serious risk, you have no idea what you'll find in that things head"

he could see Marcus's determination waver slightly

"it's the best chance we have of stopping the survivor" he turned his head and focused on the far wall "it's coming again get ready"

they both waited in the near dark, Marcus could sense the survivor on the edge of his mind, before either of them could react he felt a searing pain rip through his mind

"Jack!"

the captain fell to the floor dead, his gun slid across the ground, the survivor turned to the diamond but Marcus was in the way

"no you aren't taking it"

he reached out with his mind into the dark, but realised his mistake a second to late, the survivor in his mind towered above him, he was nothing more than a frightened child in comparison, he barely felt the strike to his shoulder. the survivor ignored him and shattered the case surrounding the diamond, before it could take the diamond Luke appeared behind him

"stop!" Luke's shout caught the survivor's attention "you don't want the diamond, and you don't want Marcus, you want me, i'm the one that sealed the other angels away in the dark, i'm what you really want"

the survivor paused, arms extended towards the diamond, with a screech of fury it turned on him, arms rippling through the air, but it's claws slashed right through him leaving Luke standing there unharmed

"you can't hurt me, none of your kind can"

Luke had moved and was standing off to the side, the survivor struck again but passed right through Luke

"i'm sorry for what i did to the other angels, but you can't have this world, and i can't let you hurt anyone else"

the survivor struck out a third time but once again passed through Luke, enraged it kept striking, never stopping, it never noticed the real Luke step up behind it,  
>taking Jack's revolver in hand he aimed it carefully at the creature<p>

"i really am sorry"

the shot rang out through museum loud and echoing, the survivor dropped to the ground before fading into dust, Luke threw the gun aside disgusted before running out of the museum, supporting himself on one of the exhibits Marcus pulled himself to his feet, clutching at his shoulder he followed after Luke, he found him outside on the steps of the museum, Luke sat their with his head in his hands, Marcus sat down gently beside him

"i'm glad you're OK, when the survivor made you disappear, i was worried i'd never find you again" he could feel Luke trembling beside him, he put a comforting arm over his shoulder "i'm guessing those were holograms or something right " he still couldn't hear anything from Luke "Luke come on talk to me"

his friend finally stirred and emerged from his hands

"the angel can't have had much energy, it only sent me back a week, that gave me time to lay that trap, i just had to stay out of sight until i got sent back in time,  
>all that time i knew what i might have to do...what did i do"<p>

he had tears welling in his eyes

"you did what you had to Luke, it wasn't easy, but it was necessary, i'm just sorry you were the one that had to do it"

Jack had revived and sat down on Luke's other side

"i killed it, and left the other angels in the vault to die, there has to be a better way of doing things"

Jack put a comforting hand on his shoulder

"i'm sorry kid, sometimes there just isn't a better way, even the Doctor would tell you that"

he looked over Luke at Marcus who nodded

"home for both of us, we haven't stopped since Kubla Kahn and her virtual world, even longer for you spending a week hiding in the past, i think you need to stop and rest for a while"

he guided Luke down the steps, Luke got into the drivers seat, Marcus waited to talk to Jack

"we'll see you around Jack, do me a favour and don't call us again, at least not for a while"

Jack nodded in understanding

"agreed, as impressive as the both of you are there are some things in the universe that are too much for a couple of kids, i'll see you around"

he watched Jack walk away before climbing into the car next to Luke

"are you okay to drive?"

Luke nodded beside him and turned on his car

"mum will be angry with me won't she?"

Marcus could feel waves of regret and shame wash over him

"no she won't Luke, you did what you had to, if you hadn't then it would have used that diamond to make an entire army of angels just like it" Luke eyes widened in surprise "me and Jack figured it out"

they stopped at the lights and Luke turned to look at him

"i'm not sure i can keep doing this, keep fighting aliens i mean" his eyes were fixed and serious "there are moments where things are brilliant and amazing, but doing this on our own without mum or the doctor to help us make the big decisions, it's too much"

Marcus could feel it all, the weight of everything they had to do, coupled with the knowledge of his future

"then we'll stop" Luke looked at him shocked "i'm serious Luke, nobody ever said we had to do this job, maybe it's time we hang up our alien fighting boots, just focus on uni and living our lives"

the lights turned green and Luke moved his car forwards

"what will mum think though, she always says she is so proud of what we do"

he smiled a sad smile

"and she still will be, but she wanted you to have a normal life, she won't think any less of you, neither will your friends"

turning a final corner they arrived outside the university

"will you stay with me"

Marcus let loose a small laugh and hugged his friend

"i don't stay with you because we have crazy alien adventures, i stay with you because i love you, ya dopey genius, besides how am i gonna pass my exams without you"

Luke laughed along with him

"i'll talk to mum tommorow, you're right, she'll understand"

Marcus guided him upstairs to get some food, he sat back and watched Luke for a moment, he looked tired, not just because he hadn't slept properly for a week, he had the weight of the future on his shoulders, a lot like the doctor. when Luke almost fell face first into his food Marcus decided it was time for sleep

"come on sleepy head"

he waited for Luke to fall asleep before gently reaching into his mind, his friend needed a peaceful nights sleep, so he brushed asides the fears and concerns for the moment, he could deal with that tommorow, laying down beside him Marcus let himself drift off as well

* * *

><p>dun dun dun, well not really but a bit of an interesting turn of events. i think after this story i might try a Dr Who story, i have lots of ideas and it will give me a chance to try something new while i plan out the story that is coming after this one<p> 


	5. belly gonna get ya

oh boy it's been a while since i've updated this one, to people who follow i apologise for taking so long i have been swamped under the combined efforts of a new job moving out and accumulated stuff and such. but now that things have settled slightly i had time to finish this. and all i can say is that it was a pain in the ass to write. it also features a brief cameo appearance from some guys that are going to appear in a doctor who story i'm working on. without further rambling please enjoy

* * *

><p>it was a chilly evening and out of the shadows stepped a tall man in a long black coat. his features were sharp like an eagle. the man moved like a bird of prey. stopping in the centre of the alley he waited for a few moments. from the other end of the alley came a young boy in his teens. his features were softer and he wore a small smile. he moved patiently stopping a few feet away from the other man.<p>

"you've chosen an interesting battleground little brother. are you sure it's wise holding our game on earth. I mean if it was a millenia earlier perhaps would have had a chance . those were the days of great heroes but no longer"

the young boy flashed a fierce grin at his brother.

"oh come now brother they may not ride around in armour fighting with swords but these people live in a world filled with heroes. i have chosen my champion and i think he'll prove himself braver than anyone i've met so far"

the older brother simply rolled his eyes.

"yes i have also chosen my champion and now it is time i chose the game" he paced around in a circle a few times a thoughtful expression on his face "ah there is one here on this world, he has one foot in the darkness and another in the light. my game little brother will be to tip the scales drag him into one side or another"

the younger brother nodded solemnly. he hated involving others in this but he had already lost one game. he had to win this game or the balance may tip completely.

"oh and one more thing little brother" he pointed to the young boys heavily bandaged hands "no interfering this time"

the young boy sighed and nodded his head, he had broken the rules last time trying to save his champions life, if he did it again...

"in the words of this world big brother. bring it on"

they both walked in opposite directions. the game was on.

* * *

><p>sunrise on planet earth. Marcus slowly untangled himself and silently got dressed. Luke had been depressed ever since he had spoken to his mum regarding his decision.<br>she had accepted it calmly with acceptance and understanding but something was still off. Luke really had hit a rut and despite Marcus's best supportive efforts Luke just wasn't himself. slipping out of the door he reached for his phone.

"hey Jake are you there?"

he had struck upon his plan a few nights ago. it was a fact that you couldn't be mopey and miserable around Jake. and a little party was just what the doctor ordered

"yeah i'm here, operation super-secret-cheer-Luke-up-until-his-mouth-hurts-from-smiling-party is a go"

Marcus had to surpress a fit of giggles not only was Jake whispering but he sounded deadly serious

"alright i have arranged transport and will be there shortly agent Jake"

hanging up the phone Marcus indulged a fit of giggles before stepping out into the cool early morning air. this was going to be one heck of a day. several hours later Luke woke up feeling Marcus shake him gently

"morning sleepy-head i've got a surprise for you"

Luke gave him a half-hearted smile while he blinked the sleep out of his eyes

"i'm surprised you're up early, there surprise done time for more sleep"

Marcus ignored him and pulled away the covers making Luke gasp as the cold air hit his skin

"get yourself dressed and go down to the kitchen, me and an accomplice of mine are throwing you a party but he needs some help preparing cause he can't reach the top cupboards and i've already been recruited to buy supplies"

Luke sulkily pulled a shirt over his head

"is there a particular reason for the party?"

Marcus knew from experience that Luke was always a bit grumpy in the mornings, but there was something else in his tone that made Marcus sad

"i'm worried about you"

Luke sighed and tried to ease up on his depressed mood, he stood slowly and gave Marcus a gentle kiss

"ok a party sounds like fun, i'll go help in the kitchen"

satisfied for the moment Marcus headed back out the door

"excellent i'll be back in about 20 minutes, you go help Jake"

Luke smiled as he watched his boyfriend disappear down the hall, until he was hit with a terrifying realisation

"wait you left Jake in the kitchen unsupervised!"

Marcus just laughed and Luke redoubled his efforts to get ready before dashing out of his door. he dreaded to think what state the kitchen was in. after a few minutes running he made it to the kitchen. he couldn't see Jake at first until he moved round the counters

"Jake!"

the little guy was laying on the floor hands over his ears

"there you are Luke, i've been waiting"

all Luke saw was a flash of green from a ring before he passed out with a painful screeching in his ears. he wasn't sure how long he was unconcious but when he woke up it was dark

"oh good you're awake, i was beggining to think you would sleep through all the fun"

Luke could see a glint of green coming off of the ring, and the voice definitely belonged to a woman. she was hidden just out of sight

"what are you doing here Mrs Wormwood? how did you survive the portal"

the woman let loose a peal of laughter

"Mrs Wormwood isn't here right now Luke, but i managed to barter the plans for this rather stylish and rather deadly ring from the bane, our ravenous hunger is something in common, so i took the designs and in return told them the location of a few choice morsels"

Luke felt a chill in his stomach

"Ruby"

more laughter echoed from the shadows and an unfamiliar woman stepped out of the shadows

"in the flesh, someone elses to be exact, but my face or not i'm still the woman that you and your meddlesome mother nearly killed!"

the last words were brimming with venom and accompanied by a blast form the sonic ring. Luke felt it burn throug him. every nerve ending was on fire. she relented after a few seconds and continued prowling around what Luke realised was a cage.

"i didn't try to kill you and neither did mum, now let me go"

before he could try and sit up she let loose another blast from the ring

"no you didn't kill me, that would have been a kindness, instead you set me drifting again, but after what you did to my stomach, i couldn't feed anymore, do you know what it's like Luke Smith, to be starving and unable to eat, it nearly drove me mad, and now i have to exist in this pathetic body just to survive"

he almost felt sorry for her but a fresh wave of pain drove all thoughts from his mind. he recovered enough to get a good look at ruby. she was in the body of the magicians first assistant. Ruby must have been the other body switcher.

"hey you leave him alone!"

Jake had woken up and was shouting from his place in an adjacent cage

"no, he is mine to do with as i will because i want your mother to suffer, and hurting him will make that happen, and i want him to suffer, killing you little boy will make that happen with pain to spare"

Luke found himself on his feet before he knew what was happening fists slamming against the bars

"don't you touch him Ruby!"

he noticed Jake take a half-step back, the little guy was afraid, Ruby watched and smiled with glee

"oh there's the Luke i've been hearing about, the killer, the murderer, even your own friends are afraid of you, this is going to fun"

Luke turned away from Jake and sank against the side of the cage, he felt shame washing over him

"now i have you two, it's time to collect Sarah-Jane, you boys have fun"

she stalked away leaving Luke alone,

* * *

><p>elsewhere Marcus and K-9 were searching<p>

"i can't believe this, 20 mintues i leave them alone and they managed to get kidnapped, K-9 are you sure the teleport trace leads this way"

K-9's nose extended and he continued forwards

"trace is weakening, i will only be able to lead you within and estimated mile of their location"

K-9 moved faster and Marcus jogged alongside to keep up

"that should be close enough for me, i can find Luke's mind if i'm close enough, just keep following the trace K-9, i need to make a call"

he slipped his phone out of his pocket. he just hoped Sarah-Jane was in a good mood. back in the cage Jake had sat down close to Luke

* * *

><p>"what did she mean when she said you were a murderer, did you kill someone?"<p>

Luke ignored the cuffs around his hands and turned to look at Jake

"i killed something, a creature called the survivor, i didn't want to, but it would have killed Marcus if i didn't"

he hadn't told his mother about it, she only knew the rough details, he dreaded to think how she would react

"and you think that makes you a bad guy?"

Luke nodded his head slowly

"you're being silly Luke, you can't be a bad guy"

there was something about the total confidence in his voice that made Luke turn his head

"i did a very bad thing Jake"

evil or not he had killed the survivor. Luke was sure that was something he would never do

"so what everybody is naughty sometimes, i know mum gets angry at me when i don't listen, but she says you're only really bad when you hurt the people you love"

Luke looked at Jake. his supercharged mind was tying strings together in his mind.

"maybe you're right. i keep telling myself there should have been a better way but if i hadn't acted the survivor would have hurt Marcus"

Jimmy's mouth split into an enormous grin

"see you aren't a bad guy"

Luke returned the grin, it was hard to be depressed with Jake around

"but i nearly became a bad guy. i wasn't going to hurt my friends on purpose but they are going to get hurt if i stop the work that i do. I can't stop just because i'm afraid to act, if i do my friends will get hurt and then i will be a bad guy"

jimmy nodded in agreement

"right we won't have long, we need to find Ruby and stop her else she will try and hurt your mum"

Luke half expected the door to their cells to bounce of their hinges in agreement with Jake, when it didn't he reached into his pocket and found the comforting shape of his sonic pen

"well Jake we're in luck because Ruby didn't know about this"

aiming the sonic pen at his handcuffs he heard a satisfying click and could finally move his arms again. they were stiff but the sonic ring had done no lasting damage pointing his pen at Jake through the bars he heard the second pair of handcuffs fall off, then he pointed at his cell door and watched it swing open

"oh cool can I try that?"

ignoring the part of his brain that told him it was a bad idea, Luke gave his pen to Jake. pointing it carefully at his door he pressed the button and it slid open

"yeah i did it"

Jimmy's hands shot into the air in excitement and the small light exploded above their heads

"oops"

grinning despite the noise Luke took Jake's hand and guided their path with the light from his pen. after following the twists and turns he remembered from being dragged to the cell they arrived in the small dimly lit room where Ruby had teleported them. he was barely concious but the burnt metallic smell of the room was still fresh in his mind.

"naughty boys aren't you, trying to escape" Luke whipped his arm around and pointed his pen at Ruby, she had the bane-made sonic ring primed between her fingers sonic pen, not quite as stylish as your mothers lipstick but it suits the geek in you, now put it down"

Luke didn't hesitate, the two sonic frequencies clashed together in an overwhelming noise. Luke held the pen for a few seconds before collapsing to the floor. Ruby in her human body didn't do any better she was clutching at her ears

"Jake run!"

he wasn't certain Jake had heard him but the little guy staggered to his feet and tried to walk to the door

"oh i don't think so"

a deep red flash of light was the only warning Luke had. the weapon flared and Jake fell to the floor. nearby Marcus felt a surge of emotions. anger. fear. pain. Luke's mind was a blaze of them. Marcus reached across the connection and felt the fire burning there. he tried to soothe the emotions, calm them, but Luke lashed out and forced him away, he didn't want to calm down.

"you!"

Ruby recoiled as the gun was kicked out of her hands, she tried to raise the sonic ring but found her hand trapped under Luke's foot. genuine fear flicked across her face.

"please!"

her words came out as barely a whisper, Luke reached over her and took the weapon she had dropped aiming it down carefully. he held it in a shaking hand.

'you can't be the bad guy'

Jimmy's words echoed in his head. he wasn't a bad guy, he didn't hurt people. killing Ruby wouldn't protect Jake. behind him he heard a light cough

"Luke my chest hurts"

he turned to Jimmy in surprise the weapon dropped to the floor forgotten. he crouched down carefully beside him. the little guy's shirt had an ugly hole burnt in it but his chest only had a small bruise

"yeah you've got a bruise, but that's all, you're gonna be fine"

Jimmy gave him a small smile and with Luke's help sat up just in time to see Ruby prime the ring on her finger

"oh no you don't"

Marcus struck out with his mind and Ruby fell to the floor head in her hands. he covered the distance between them and quickly grabbed her hand to take the ring off her finger

"you're late"

Jimmy was grinning from his place on the floor and Marcus gave him a playful glare

"yeah well i stopped to pick up some friends"

from the door behind him two police officers appeared followed closely by Lisa and her mother. the two officers made quick work of handcuffing Ruby and she barely made a noise as they carried her out of the room. Jimmy meanwhile found himself being hugged by his mother and sister

"oh Jimmy, you had us so worried, and when Sarah-Jane contacted me i though the worst, thank you for keeping him safe"

Luke and Marcus both found themselves on the receiving end of hugs then they all gathered themselves up and followed the police officers outside. several hours later they were finally done giving statements. Jake had long since fallen asleep and an officer gave him and his family a ride home. after assuring the policeman that they would be fine Marcus and Luke finally left the station.

"is it really alright though, letting them arrest her like that, i still can't believe your mum called the police of all people"

Marcus didn't know her that well but he was willing to bet that Ruby could cause an awful lot of trouble even in a human body

"it's fine, she's human now and has to live with it, she also has to live with the kidnapping charges filed against her and i suspect she's going to have to do a lot of her living from behind bars"

Marcus let loose a little snort of laughter at the idea, one of their most dangerous enemies defeated by regular policemen

"thanks for saving me, again"

Marcus rolled his eyes and pulled Luke close giving him a gentle kiss

"it's what i'm here for, and besides i did the easy part. I'm proud of you for doing the hard part and not killing her"

Luke turned away shame on his face

"I know you wanted to Luke, and i know you're scared that some small part of you wanted to kill her, what's important is that you didn't"

Luke didn't move so Marcus pulled him closer

"i thought if i quit i wouldn't have to deal with it. but if i stop fighting you and mum and everyone else is going to get hurt"

he pulled away slightly and fixed Marcus with a determined gaze

"the future can throw whatever it wants at me, there are too many people on this world that i care about for me to stop fighting now"

they carried on walking, it had been a whole year since their meeting with the future Luke, River was coming

"well i'm glad to hear you say that because living a calm human life is so boring, seriously i don't know how people do it"

Luke gave him a playful shove and they broke apart laughing

"i didn't think it was that boring, i mean it did give us more free time for other things"

they both broke into a fresh burst of laughter and continued down the street

"one thing i don't get though, i saw the mini-man's shirt, he shrugged off a direct hit from a level 5 disintegrator how did he manage that"

Luke paused to consider it

"i don't really know, but he did and that's what counts"

* * *

><p>unseen across the street the two brothers watched<p>

"yes little brother how did he manage that"

his younger brother just smiled

"who knows, human children are tougher than they look"

his older brother grabbed him by the front of his shirt before he could blink

"you interfered in the game, you should know the consequences of interfering with your champion"

a flash of light accompanied the younger brothers movement as he threw his brother back

"as should you brother, there was no way your champion could have made that shot, she was barely concious" the older brother looked at him, anger concealed behind a scowl "i simply did what i always do. balanced things out, now get lost, this game goes to me"

the older brothers anger disappeared and he turned to leave

"there's always the next game little brother, don't forget it"

* * *

><p>elsewhere Marcus and Luke had finally made it back to their room. Luke pushed open the door wearily and stepped inside<p>

"hello boys, i've been expecting you, don't you know it's not good to keep a girl waiting"

River song sat in his computer chair smiling at them both

"hello River"

* * *

><p>cliffhanger. sorry couldn't help myself, don't worry in the next chapter River is finally going to reveal what she has in store for Luke. as always reviews are appreciated and i always look forward to them, especially the ones from TKLee and DannyP, and most amusing of all my mum, who has started reading from the very beggining. all i can say is lol.<p> 


	6. the shattered prison

hello fanfiction, I'm back. sorry that line from Dr Who was pretty awesome, gotta love james corden. anyway here is the final installment of this series and the story in general. it's taken me a while to get here but I think I've finally answered all (or at least most) of the questions I raised during my writing. hope you all enjoyed. thanks to TKLee and DannyP they are awesome reviewers and a good percentage of the ideas behind this have come from them. without further adue and much applause for my reviewers please enjoy

* * *

><p>"Hello River"<p>

River song was sat at Luke's desk, he couldn't help but notice the gun at her side

"you boys know who i am, well that makes a change, usually i'm the one with all the answers. Who told you i was coming?"

her question was teasing and light but hid an overwhelming curiosity. Luke allowed himself a small smile

"i did"

Marcus caught on to the joke and smiled himself but River's eyes deepened into a frown

"interacting with your own past is incredibly dangerous, why on earth would i let you do it?"

Luke was torn between a universe destroying paradox and a vengeful Trickster, either one made a good arguement

"apart from preventing a paradox, you helped me defeat the Trickster"

she allowed herself to relax again but kept her eyes focused on Luke

"I take it we need to do this soon to preserve the timeline?"

her raised eyebrow indicated she knew the answer

"yes you and i need to leave right now"

River stood up and held out her vortex manipulator

"well then, let's get started"

Luke gathered up a few things from around his room, anything he might need. Marcus grabbed his hand before he could touch the vortex manipulator

"I know that i'm not supposed to go with you, so be careful alright"

Luke simply smiled and pulled him close

"I'll be back soon OK"

a light kiss and then Luke disappeared in a flash of light

"well K-9 guess it's just you and me for a while"

he wanted Luke to be back and hated waiting behind. before he could leave for his own room he heard a tremendous sound behind him followed by a blast of air. the tardis materialized out in the hall moments later. before the Tardis had properly landed the doctor burst through the doors and into the room.

"Where's River?"

there was a look of alarm on his face

"She just left with Luke, back in time, why?"

Marcus managed to keep the edge out of his voice but the Doctor noticed his concern anyway

"because she's after the Sanctuary and if we don't stop her she could rewrite all of history"

Marcus choked on a surprised reply so he could follow the doctor into the tardis where Amy and Rory were both waiting

"Hey Amy, hey Rory, what the hell is he talking about?"

the doctor had already sent the tardis lurching into motion and was frantically dancing around the console

"Melody, I mean River she's trying to change time, Rewrite history to prevent the death of the doctor only she doesn't have all the facts yet"

the TARDIS lurched and they all narrowly avoided being thrown to the floor

"you died! no wait scratch that i don't want to know, how is she going to rewrite time, and why does she need Luke"

The tardis materialised in london and this time they were knocked to the floor

"sorry had to rush the landing come on TARDIS says she's around here somewhere"

the Doctor raced out of the door and into the middle of a busy street, before he could step out around the corner he was yanked out of sight by his collar

"slow down you idiot and pay attention to what's in front of you"

at Marcus's words the doctor took a breath and looked around the corner again, he saw a version of Marcus in the middle of the street with river barely a few metres away

"I recognise this doctor and I don't remember you being in this memory so keep your head down, it's the moment where she helps me solve a riddle"

as he spoke the younger version of Marcus ran off, the Doctor however was focused on River song who gave him an infuriating smile before sauntering off

"clever girl, she's hiding in established chains of events, i can't stop her without affecting the future, OK time for plan B"

turning on his heels the Doctor disappeared back into the TARDIS

"why do we even need a plan B you never told me what she's planning, how is she going to rewrite history"

the Doctor turned to face them all a deadly serious look on his face

"she is after what many call the prison, a place where a race of powerful creatures are held captive, except they aren't captive, and it isn't a prison. The prison is actually a sanctuary, built by timelords to protect one of the greatest gifts ever given"

a cascade of memories burst into Marcus's head and slotted together prefectly

"you're talking about the NELs aren't you"

The Doctor faced him with an open mouth, clearly he hadn't expected that

"umm well yes, River thinks she can use the last prayer of a NEL to save my life, and she could but she doesn't remember enough of my death to realise why it is such a bad idea, and how did you know about the NEls. You know what that really ruined the moment, rule 1111 never intterupt a timelord when he's...timelording!"

the doctor stalked off to the console and Amy and Rory had to quickly hide smiles.

"OK well that's easy then let's just go wait at the vault until she gets there"

the Doctor's frown deepened

"That's a good plan except that i can't find it, Timelords as a rule cannot locate the vault, the creators hid it from all of my kind even themselves. River found it because she isn't timelord enough for it to need to hide from her"

He let that settle for a moment, even Amy and Rory hadn't heard this part of the story

"OK but then why does she need Luke if she's already found the vault"

Amy knew there must be a reason but he just couldn't see it

"simple Pond, because the vault can only be opened by a timelord and she isn't timelord enough to do it, it was considered the perfect solution, only the timelords could open the vault but they couldn't do that if they didn't know where to find it"

Marcus felt his anger bubble below the surface

"stop dodging the question, why does she need Luke!"

He tried to stamp down on the anger that was ruling him but it was being fuelled by fear

"because she gave him timelord DNA when Luke was first created his DNA was woven together from thousands of strands of DNA, including a timelord, her's specifically, not much but if left to mature over say ten years or so it might be enough to be recognised by the vault"

nobody had a remark for that. except Amy

"OK that's all well and good but if she wasn't enough timelord to open the vault how is Luke gonne do it? he's like extra diluted timelord"

despite the grim circumstances the doctor smiled

"DNA was nothing to do with the door refusing to open, the door doesn't just look at your body, it looks at your soul, the timelords that build it were young but wise and their minds glowed with the light of the universe, all the wonders they had seen"

Marcus sucked in a worried breath

"she really could get in there with his help"

he took a moment to gaze at the console, he could feel the wild emotions of the intelligence hidden inside

"If this is so dangerous and you can't find the sanctuary, I know someone who can"

the Doctor turned to him with wide eyes and screamed to stop but the feelings of his body abruptly vanished. The only thing that mattered was what he could sense inside the console. he could sense time, Roaring by in it's infinite majesty. he could sense the emotions that came with the passing of that time. brightest joys and deepest sorrows. with an impossible effort he put them aside and focused on what he was looking for. that one simple emotion that would lead him where he needed to go.

"the Sanctuary! i thought it was supposed to keep them safe"

River had lived up to her word and time was in place, now she had explained why she needed Luke

"the prison as it is called by many who misunderstand its purpose has cracked. it isn't open yet but they are closer than anybody has ever come before, I could defeat them but i need help"

Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing

"OK well lets get Marcus and he can help"

the thought of having a powerful solaran at his side would make Luke feel a whole lot more confident

"No! it can't be that way, a brave soul named Gamma found me once in stormcage, he told me i had to make sure that Marcus never stepped foot inside the Sanctuary or he would die, he never told me why"

Luke felt a small smile creep over his face

"Gamma was repaying a favour of sorts, one that hadn't happened when you met him. OK come on then, the two of us will do it ourselves, you're sure the doctor won't be able to get close either"

she nodded her head and held out the vortex manipulator. taking a breath he put his hand on it and they both dissapeared. The place they entered was unlike anything he had ever seen, everywhere around him he caught glimpses of tumbling gears and whirring circling movement. the place reminded him of a giant clock. each piece, each gear moved in unison meshing together perfectly. It didn't take a genius like Luke to figure out who made the sanctuary. before them was a simple door, it reminded Luke of the door to his mums house.

"they're already passed the outer defences, we must hurry"

she started towards the door, removing her gun from it's holster as she went

"or what River, who are you afraid will stop you?"

the voice was calm but River turned towards it anyway, a mad glint in her eye

"I won't let you stop me, even if it means i have to kill you twice to save you"

the doctor shrugged his shoulders

"you won't kill me because I won't do a thing to stop you"

before she could question him Marcus staggered out of the tardis supported by Amy and Rory

"Marcus! is he okay?"

Luke had been the closest to the door but he started to move away

"Don't move Luke!"

River had turned her gun towards him and he froze in fear.

"I don't want to hurt you Luke, I just need you to open that door"

he lowered his head slightly and when he spoke his tone was dissapointed

"you lied to me. you lied to me by telling the truth. there was a threat to this vault but it wasn't some evil alien warlord, it was you. I can't let you hurt them, I promise Gamma that much"

she pulled the hammer of the gun back into place

"Melody Pond that is enough!"

the voice rang out loud and perfectly clear despite the noise around them. everyone was shocked into silence

"I know we didn't get to raise you the way Amy and I had always imagined, but we did raise you, and I know we raised you better than this"

Rory's words weren't loud and they weren't angry, but nobody missed the dissapointment in them. River's hands trembled and then she lowered the gun

"I'm sorry father"

the gun swung up from by her leg and caught Luke under the chin. he tumbled back and tried to catch himself. he caught himself on the door. everything went still and the pace of the gears seemed to increase. For one long second the gears stopped. the second passed and the gears around them moved like nothing had happened.

"I don't understand, why didn't the door open?"

the security systems had recognised Luke, but they had not let him pass

"being a timelord is more than just DNA River, you didn't think the door would be that simple to open. The creators of this vault were kind and filled with a spark of innocence much like the N. they never saw what lied in the dark corners of the universe. Luke has"

River turned on them realisation turned to determination in her eyes

"fine then I'll simply go back and claim Luke before he saw the darker parts of the universe, it may not have lasted forever but I know there was a time when he was much like the creators"

The doctor just shook his head slowly

"If you go back that far the timelord DNA you gave Luke wouldn't have had time to mature, the door would not react to his touch. I know time is not the boss of either of us River, but every now and then you have to concede a game to it"

Shrieking in fury she whirled around and opened fire on the door

"River that's enough! you can't kill a single one of them no matter how important this is to you, that's why the timelords built this vault, the universe is full of people who think their reason for using the power is just, but to kill creatures as pure and innocent as them, even the end of the universe isn't a good enough reason"

River's hand trembled, her grip loosened on the gun

"I just wanted to save you"

The doctor smiled an old sad smile and pulled her into a gentle hug

"I know you did melody, but whatever happens next we must leave it be, do you understand"

She started crying, Amy and Rory both closed around her leaving Luke and Marcus on the outside with K-9

"more or less human with just that little spark of timelord. I have good taste"

the joke earned him a light punch to the ribs before he pulled Luke into a hug

"are you alright?"

Luke's eyes were searching him. Marcus slowly massaged the sides of his head until he could manage a grin

"The Doctor couldn't find this place, but between me and the TARDIS it wasn't that hard to manage. Still there's a reason why the Timelords didn't build her with a purely psychic interface. The migraines are unbelievable"

the both laughed and Luke's cool hands on his head did something to relieve his headache

"I was worried for a second, River told me she had spoken to gamma, but I guess she must of just said it to manipulate me"

Marcus nodded his head and the turned to see Melody finally calmed down amongst the ring of her family. she wiped tears out of her eyes and looked Luke in the eye

"I'm sorry for using you like this Luke, it was a cruel thing to deceive you"

Luke flashed a smile in her direction

"well you helped me save the universe from the Trickster at one point or another, lets call it even"

she started laughing and soon the sound spread through their little group of friends

"right home for the lot of you, although we could stop for Cake first"

Amy frowned and simply pushed him through the door

"no more cake cause I don't care how much bigger your Tardis is on the inside I will not fit"

she stressed the last four words and everybody started laughing again, the doors swung shut behind them

"right home, River where am i taking you?"

she walked towards the console to give him directions but stopped short of trying to take control, she could indulge his ego this once. a few minutes later and they were hurtling through the vortex. The doctor gave Luke a few instructions and then let him fly for a bit, it seemed like a good reward and the young mans eyes lit up at the chance"

Marcus having been the passenger for way to many road trips with Luke, hung on tight

"Must it be this way my love"

there were no physical signs of affection but Marcus could feel the emotions of River and the Doctor bubbling just below the surface

"whatever happens, must happen"

She nodded solemnly turning to hug her mum and dad

"I'm sure i'll see you again soon, bye mum, bye dad"

she hugged them both in turn and stepped away with a sad smile. they had similar looks on their faces but Marcus could sense hope in there as well

"Is it my stop yet Luke?"

she had turned to look at the console but Luke couldn't meet her eyes, he had paused while moving about the controls. in the back of his mind Marcus felt something stirring

"Luke what's wrong?"

at the sound of his friends voice he looked up and caught his eyes for a few moments. Then they hardened. he pulled at the levers. The Tardis doors sprang open. Extrapolator shielding failed and the raw vacumn of the vortext tried to drag them all out of the Tardis. The doctor clawed at the ramp trying to get a grip on something. he finally caught the railing. In his other hand he held onto amy for all he was worth. River opposite him had Rory.

"Doctor!"

he could barely hear her scream over the roar of the vortex but he saw marcus being dragged towards the door. with as much strength as he could manage the doctor swung Amy outwards and she caught Marcus by the front of his shirt. Luke moved towards them, one hand steady on the console. his other held a gun, River's gun.

"Luke what are you doing!"

* * *

><p>OK so maybe this wasn't the very last story idea i had to write. I'm beginning to understand the twisted mind of Steven Moffat. having lots of questions and knowing all the answers is a lot of fun, even more so is giving two questions for every answer. this isn't ending just yet but wether it takes the form of one finally awesomely epic chapter or an entirely knew story i don't know, keep a look out and maybe you will see.<p>

hint for next chapter/story: the one villain you never expected


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